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Sunday, February 21, 2010
Why I’m Leaving the SenateBASEBALL may be our national pastime, but the age-old tradition of taking a swing at Congress is a sport with even deeper historical roots in the American experience. Since the founding of our country, citizens from Ben Franklin to David Letterman have made fun of their elected officials. Milton Berle famously joked: “You can lead a man to Congress, but you can’t make him think.” These days, though, the institutional inertia gripping Congress is no laughing matter.
Challenges of historic import threaten America’s future. Action on the deficit, economy, energy, health care and much more is imperative, yet our legislative institutions fail to act. Congress must be reformed.
There are many causes for the dysfunction: strident partisanship, unyielding ideology, a corrosive system of campaign financing, gerrymandering of House districts, endless filibusters, holds on executive appointees in the Senate, dwindling social interaction between senators of opposing parties and a caucus system that promotes party unity at the expense of bipartisan consensus.
Many good people serve in Congress. They are patriotic, hard-working and devoted to the public good as they see it, but the institutional and cultural impediments to change frustrate the intentions of these well-meaning people as rarely before. It was not always thus.
Many good people serve in Congress. They are patriotic, hard-working and devoted to the public good as they see it, but the institutional and cultural impediments to change frustrate the intentions of these well-meaning people as rarely before. It was not always thus.
While romanticizing the Senate of yore would be a mistake, it was certainly better in my father’s time. My father, Birch Bayh, represented Indiana in the Senate from 1963 to 1981. A progressive, he nonetheless enjoyed many friendships with moderate Republicans and Southern Democrats.
One incident from his career vividly demonstrates how times have changed. In 1968, when my father was running for re-election, Everett Dirksen, the Republican leader, approached him on the Senate floor, put his arm around my dad’s shoulder, and asked what he could do to help. This is unimaginable today.
When I was a boy, members of Congress from both parties, along with their families, would routinely visit our home for dinner or the holidays. This type of social interaction hardly ever happens today and we are the poorer for it. It is much harder to demonize someone when you know his family or have visited his home. Today, members routinely campaign against each other, raise donations against each other and force votes on trivial amendments written solely to provide fodder for the next negative attack ad. It’s difficult to work with members actively plotting your demise.
When I was a boy, members of Congress from both parties, along with their families, would routinely visit our home for dinner or the holidays. This type of social interaction hardly ever happens today and we are the poorer for it. It is much harder to demonize someone when you know his family or have visited his home. Today, members routinely campaign against each other, raise donations against each other and force votes on trivial amendments written solely to provide fodder for the next negative attack ad. It’s difficult to work with members actively plotting your demise.
Any improvement must begin by changing the personal chemistry among senators. More interaction in a non-adversarial atmosphere would help.
I’m beginning my 12th year in the Senate and only twice have all the senators gathered for something other than purely ceremonial occasions. The first was during my initial week in office. President Bill Clinton had been impeached and the Senate had to conduct his trial. This hadn’t happened since 1868, and there were no rules in place for conducting the proceedings.
I’m beginning my 12th year in the Senate and only twice have all the senators gathered for something other than purely ceremonial occasions. The first was during my initial week in office. President Bill Clinton had been impeached and the Senate had to conduct his trial. This hadn’t happened since 1868, and there were no rules in place for conducting the proceedings.
All of us gathered in the Old Senate Chamber. For several hours we debated how to proceed. Finally, Ted Kennedy and Phil Gramm, ideological opposites, were given the task of forging a compromise. They did, and it was unanimously ratified.
The second occasion was just days after Sept. 11. Every senator who could make it to Washington gathered in the Senate dining room to discuss the American response. The nation had been attacked. The building in which we sat had been among the targets, and only the heroism of the passengers prevented the plane from reaching its destination. We had to respond to protect the country. There were no Republicans or Democrats in the room that day, just Americans. The spirit of patriotism and togetherness was palpable. That atmosphere prevailed for only two or three weeks before politics once again intervened.
It shouldn’t take a constitutional crisis or an attack on the nation to create honest dialogue in the Senate. Let’s start with a simple proposal: why not have a monthly lunch of all 100 senators? Every week, the parties already meet for a caucus lunch. Democrats gather in one room, Republicans in another, and no bipartisan interaction takes place. With a monthly lunch of all senators, we could pick a topic and have each side make a brief presentation followed by questions and answers. Listening to one another, absent the posturing and public talking points, could only promote greater understanding, which is necessary to real progress.
Perhaps from this starting point, we can move onto more intractable problems, like the current campaign finance system that has such a corrosive effect on Congress. In the Senate, raising in small increments the $10 million to $20 million a competitive race requires takes huge amounts of time that could otherwise be spent talking with constituents, legislating or becoming well-versed on public policy. In my father’s time there was a saying: “A senator legislates for four years and campaigns for two.” Because of the incessant need to raise campaign cash, we now have perpetual campaigns. If fund-raising is constantly on members’ minds, it’s difficult for policy compromise to trump political calculation.
The recent Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, allowing corporations and unions to spend freely on ads explicitly supporting or opposing political candidates, will worsen matters. The threat of unlimited amounts of negative advertising from special interest groups will only make members more beholden to their natural constituencies and more afraid of violating party orthodoxies.
I can easily imagine vulnerable members approaching a corporation or union for support and being told: “We’d love to support you, but we have a rule. We only support candidates who are with us at least 90 percent of the time. Here is our questionnaire with our top 10 concerns. Fill it out.” Millions of campaign dollars now ride on the member’s response. The cause of good government is not served.
What to do? While fundamental campaign finance reform may ultimately require a constitutional amendment, there are less drastic steps we can take to curb the distorting influence of money in politics. Congress should consider ways to lessen the impact of the Citizens United decision through legislation to enhance disclosure requirements, require corporate donors to appear in the political ads they finance and prohibit government contractors or bailout beneficiaries from spending money on political campaigns.
Congress and state legislators should also consider incentives, including public matching funds for smaller contributions, to expand democratic participation and increase the influence of small donors relative to corporations and other special interests.
Congress and state legislators should also consider incentives, including public matching funds for smaller contributions, to expand democratic participation and increase the influence of small donors relative to corporations and other special interests.
In addition, the Senate should reform a practice increasingly abused by both parties, the filibuster. Historically, the filibuster was employed to ensure that momentous issues receive a full and fair hearing. Instead, it has come to serve the exact opposite purpose — to prevent the Senate from even conducting routine business.
Last fall, the Senate had to overcome two successive filibusters to pass a bill to provide millions of Americans with extended unemployment insurance. There was no opposition to the bill; it passed on a 98-0 vote. But some senators saw political advantage in drawing out debate, thus preventing the Senate from addressing other pressing matters.
Admittedly, I have participated in filibusters. If not abused, the filibuster can foster consensus-building. The minority has a right to voice legitimate concerns, but it must not employ this tactic to prevent progress on everything at a critical juncture for our country. We need to reduce the power of the minority to frustrate progress while still affording them some say.
Filibusters have proliferated because under current rules just one or two determined senators can stop the Senate from functioning. Today, the mere threat of a filibuster is enough to stop a vote; senators are rarely asked to pull all-nighters like Jimmy Stewart in “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.”
For this reason, filibusters should require 35 senators to sign a public petition and make a commitment to continually debate an issue in reality, not just in theory. Those who obstruct the Senate should pay a price in public notoriety and physical exhaustion. That would lead to a significant decline in frivolous filibusters.
Filibusters should also be limited to no more than one for any piece of legislation. Currently, the decision to begin debate on a bill can be filibustered, followed by another filibuster on each amendment, followed by yet another filibuster before a final vote. This leads to multiple legislative delays and effectively grinds the Senate to a halt.
What’s more, the number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster should be reduced to 55 from 60. During my father’s era, filibusters were commonly used to block civil rights legislation and, in 1975, the requisite number of votes was reduced to 60 from 67. The challenges facing the country today are so substantial that further delay imperils the Republic and warrants another reduction in the supermajority requirement.
Of course, the genesis of a good portion of the gridlock in Congress does not reside in Congress itself. Ultimate reform will require each of us, as voters and Americans, to take a long look in the mirror, because in many ways, our representatives in Washington reflect the people who have sent them there.
The most ideologically devoted elements in both parties must accept that not every compromise is a sign of betrayal or an indication of moral lassitude. When too many of our citizens take an all-or-nothing approach, we should not be surprised when nothing is the result.
The most ideologically devoted elements in both parties must accept that not every compromise is a sign of betrayal or an indication of moral lassitude. When too many of our citizens take an all-or-nothing approach, we should not be surprised when nothing is the result.
Our most strident partisans must learn to occasionally sacrifice short-term tactical political advantage for the sake of the nation. Otherwise, Congress will remain stuck in an endless cycle of recrimination and revenge. The minority seeks to frustrate the majority, and when the majority is displaced it returns the favor. Power is constantly sought through the use of means which render its effective use, once acquired, impossible.
What is required from members of Congress and the public alike is a new spirit of devotion to the national welfare beyond party or self-interest. In a time of national peril, with our problems compounding, we must remember that more unites us as Americans than divides us.
Meeting America’s profound challenges and reforming Congress will not be easy. Old habits die hard. Special interests are entrenched. Still, my optimism as I serve out the remainder of my final term in the Senate is undiminished. With the right reforms, members of Congress can once again embody our best selves and our highest aspirations.
In my final 11 months, I will advocate for the reforms that will help Congress function as it once did, so that our generation can do what Americans have always done: convey to our children, and our children’s children, an America that is stronger, more prosperous, more decent and more just.
Evan Bayh, the governor of Indiana from 1989 to 1996 and a senator since 1999, announced his retirement from the Senate last week.
The Tyranny of the Minority in the U.S. Senate February 20, 2010 Editorial Writer
Posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 8:31:26 PM by Diana in Wisconsin
(As distasteful as a tyranny of the majority, it should compel the Senate to change its filibuster rules.)
There may well be more behind Evan Bayh's announced departure from the U.S. Senate than meets the eye. That doesn't mean that the Indiana Democrat's parting shots about gridlock, loss of comity, unbridled partisanship and general congressional ineffectiveness are any less true.
Congress is paralyzed.
The hard stuff is just not getting done. And there is little reason to doubt, absent reform of U.S. Senate rules in particular or a genuine change in the culture, that what the country has just seen on health care won't be repeated when it comes to the nation's other pressing problems.
Jobs. Economic stimulus. Infrastructure rebuilding. Cap-and-trade or dealing with climate change generally. Immigration reform. The deficit. A looming reckoning on Medicare and Social Security.
They are all - or should be - on Congress' plate. And that's where they will likely stay - with the nation stuck at the window eyeing the morsels longingly.
Distressingly, however, with control of Congress potentially hanging in the balance in November elections, partisans see more advantage in obstruction than true negotiation - though it doesn't take an election year to trigger these base instincts. As others have observed, a culture of perpetual electioneering has descended on Congress - every issue with even the faintest hint of political advantage is held hostage to partisan ideology masquerading as principle.
And that's evident even in the U.S. Senate, the "deliberative body." "Dithering body" is more like it these days.
Blame that magic number: 60.
Sen. Tom Harkin has some other numbers in mind: 57, 54, down to simple majority in a 100-member Senate. The Iowa Democrat has reprised his proposal to change the Senate's filibuster rule. Sixty, of course, is the number of votes it now takes to shut down debate and proceed to a vote for a bill. It wasn't always so. The Senate decreased that from 67 in 1975. And, arguably, the filibuster - unmentioned in the U.S. Constitution - wasn't even intended to block legislation in perpetuity but to simply delay it.
Whether Senate Republicans or Democrats have been in charge, this tool has been misused. But Republicans have developed it into an art form more recently. From 1949 to 1970, there were 30 cloture votes; in 2009, there were 39 alone. There were 112 cloture votes in the 110th Congress, from 2007-2009.
Harkin's proposal - which he first introduced in 1995 when Democrats were in the Senate minority - has merit. Up to a point. And that point for us is 50 + 1, a simple Senate majority.
Built into the Senate by the Founding Fathers is fear of a tyranny of the majority. Rhode Island has the same number of senators as California. And by serving six years rather than House members' two-year terms, senators were thought to be more immune to political expediencies.
Yes, by all means, the Senate should reform its rules as Harkins suggests - the number of votes necessary after two weeks going down to 57 and to 54 two weeks later. But not down to simple majority. A progressive diminishment will, in our view, spur good-faith negotiation as a matter of necessity. But a simple majority would allow the minority to be treated too roughly - to the detriment of a nation whose electorate does show all the signs of being split on major issues.
Most citizens, however, don't elect senators with the thought in mind, "OK, that'll make sure nothing gets done." They elect them to vote convictions - to actually accomplish something by putting country first.
Yes to filibuster reform. Otherwise, what we're left with is a tyranny of the minority, every bit as offensive as the opposite.
Posted on Saturday, February 20, 2010 8:31:26 PM by Diana in Wisconsin
(As distasteful as a tyranny of the majority, it should compel the Senate to change its filibuster rules.)
There may well be more behind Evan Bayh's announced departure from the U.S. Senate than meets the eye. That doesn't mean that the Indiana Democrat's parting shots about gridlock, loss of comity, unbridled partisanship and general congressional ineffectiveness are any less true.
Congress is paralyzed.
The hard stuff is just not getting done. And there is little reason to doubt, absent reform of U.S. Senate rules in particular or a genuine change in the culture, that what the country has just seen on health care won't be repeated when it comes to the nation's other pressing problems.
Jobs. Economic stimulus. Infrastructure rebuilding. Cap-and-trade or dealing with climate change generally. Immigration reform. The deficit. A looming reckoning on Medicare and Social Security.
They are all - or should be - on Congress' plate. And that's where they will likely stay - with the nation stuck at the window eyeing the morsels longingly.
Distressingly, however, with control of Congress potentially hanging in the balance in November elections, partisans see more advantage in obstruction than true negotiation - though it doesn't take an election year to trigger these base instincts. As others have observed, a culture of perpetual electioneering has descended on Congress - every issue with even the faintest hint of political advantage is held hostage to partisan ideology masquerading as principle.
And that's evident even in the U.S. Senate, the "deliberative body." "Dithering body" is more like it these days.
Blame that magic number: 60.
Sen. Tom Harkin has some other numbers in mind: 57, 54, down to simple majority in a 100-member Senate. The Iowa Democrat has reprised his proposal to change the Senate's filibuster rule. Sixty, of course, is the number of votes it now takes to shut down debate and proceed to a vote for a bill. It wasn't always so. The Senate decreased that from 67 in 1975. And, arguably, the filibuster - unmentioned in the U.S. Constitution - wasn't even intended to block legislation in perpetuity but to simply delay it.
Whether Senate Republicans or Democrats have been in charge, this tool has been misused. But Republicans have developed it into an art form more recently. From 1949 to 1970, there were 30 cloture votes; in 2009, there were 39 alone. There were 112 cloture votes in the 110th Congress, from 2007-2009.
Harkin's proposal - which he first introduced in 1995 when Democrats were in the Senate minority - has merit. Up to a point. And that point for us is 50 + 1, a simple Senate majority.
Built into the Senate by the Founding Fathers is fear of a tyranny of the majority. Rhode Island has the same number of senators as California. And by serving six years rather than House members' two-year terms, senators were thought to be more immune to political expediencies.
Yes, by all means, the Senate should reform its rules as Harkins suggests - the number of votes necessary after two weeks going down to 57 and to 54 two weeks later. But not down to simple majority. A progressive diminishment will, in our view, spur good-faith negotiation as a matter of necessity. But a simple majority would allow the minority to be treated too roughly - to the detriment of a nation whose electorate does show all the signs of being split on major issues.
Most citizens, however, don't elect senators with the thought in mind, "OK, that'll make sure nothing gets done." They elect them to vote convictions - to actually accomplish something by putting country first.
Yes to filibuster reform. Otherwise, what we're left with is a tyranny of the minority, every bit as offensive as the opposite.
By Sadie Gurman, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
In his first call to 911, Curtis Mitchell sounded calm, explaining to dispatchers that his "entire stomach [was] in pain."
By the time his longtime girlfriend made a 10th call nearly 30 hours later, she was frantic. He wasn't breathing. He was cold to the touch.
"Oh God, oh God," Sharon Edge sobbed to dispatchers. "I've been trying to get an ambulance over here for three days."
Paramedics arrived at their Hazelwood home as Ms. Edge tried to resuscitate the 50-year-old, but it was too late.
"I sat up here with him, watching him die," Ms. Edge said Tuesday, after city officials apologized to her and pledged immediate changes in emergency response after Mr. Mitchell's death on Feb. 7. "They didn't do their jobs like they were supposed to."
Snow-covered roads, poor communication and a 911 center deluged with more than double the average number of calls during last week's crippling snowstorms combined to cause Mr. Mitchell's long wait, city officials said.
Ambulances were dispatched three times on Saturday, Feb. 6, to the couple's home in the 5100 block of narrow Chaplain Way, but couldn't get there because of the snow. Paramedics twice asked whether Mr. Mitchell could walk to an intersection, even after he told them that he could not because he was in too much pain.
Emergency vehicles were within blocks of his home three times -- once so close Ms. Edge could see the ambulance lights from her porch -- but did not make contact with him. They finally reached the home on Sunday morning, Feb. 7, but Mr. Mitchell was already dead.
"We should have gotten there," Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. "It's that simple."
Complicating matters, communication problems meant that each call was seen as an individual request for help. Information gained on previous calls was not passed down during the next request, said Ron Roth, medical director for the city's public safety department and Allegheny County's emergency operations center.
"As a result, we made the same request over and over," he said.
Dispatchers sent the first ambulance to Mr. Mitchell's home just after 2 a.m. on Feb. 6, after he called complaining of abdominal pain, according to dispatch records. The call was graded E-2, or less pressing, as his symptoms were deemed not life-threatening. He called 911 again two hours later, asking what the hold-up was.
The call-taker told him medics were on their way, but the ambulance got stuck in the snow near the Elizabeth Street Bridge. The call was canceled after paramedics learned that Mr. Mitchell was in too much pain to walk out to them. Mr. Mitchell said he would try again later.
A second request for help was made about an hour after the first was canceled, though medics were not aware that an ambulance had gotten stuck while en route the house earlier. They, too, became stuck, according to Dr. Roth's report.
"If he wants a ride to the hospital, he is just going to have to come down to the truck," a medic told the dispatcher. Mr. Mitchell said he would try to walk to the truck, but later told them he couldn't make it across the bridge. The second call was canceled.
The third call for an ambulance came nearly five hours later, at 11:17 a.m. Saturday. Mr. Mitchell reported similar abdominal pain, and officials identified "no priority symptoms," and the call was held because of limited availability, Dr. Roth wrote in his report.
"At this point in time, higher priority calls are being held, there are over 30 calls in the pending queue," he wrote.
At about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, nine hours later, the call was upgraded to E-1, or higher priority, because Ms. Edge, who had begun making the calls on Mr. Mitchell's behalf, told call-takers he was short of breath and that they'd been waiting all day.
Less than an hour later, Ms. Edge called again to tell dispatchers that her boyfriend took sleeping and pain pills and she "could not get him up."
A doctor who called Ms. Edge back was "convinced he took his prescribed medications and went to sleep," Dr. Roth said, and the call was canceled.
In the final call, about 8 a.m. Sunday, she screamed for help. The call was graded E-0 -- a top priority. But when paramedics arrived, Mr. Mitchell had already died.
The cause of death is pending toxicology test results, the medical examiner's office said. Dr. Roth wrote that Mr. Mitchell had a history of pancreatitis, though his reported symptoms were not exclusive to that disease.
"It's unacceptable what happened," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. "It needs to change. We're talking about somebody who lost their life, and it's no small matter."
The city planned today to start dispatching firefighters as first responders on medical calls of the two highest grades of severity, and on calls of the third highest level that remained unanswered for more than 30 minutes. Firefighters are currently only called as first responders to the most severe incidents.
Sadie Gurman: sgurman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878.
http://boards.medscape.com/forums?128@659.RWIFaip3mJf@.29fa9e1d!comment=1
By the time his longtime girlfriend made a 10th call nearly 30 hours later, she was frantic. He wasn't breathing. He was cold to the touch.
"Oh God, oh God," Sharon Edge sobbed to dispatchers. "I've been trying to get an ambulance over here for three days."
Paramedics arrived at their Hazelwood home as Ms. Edge tried to resuscitate the 50-year-old, but it was too late.
"I sat up here with him, watching him die," Ms. Edge said Tuesday, after city officials apologized to her and pledged immediate changes in emergency response after Mr. Mitchell's death on Feb. 7. "They didn't do their jobs like they were supposed to."
Snow-covered roads, poor communication and a 911 center deluged with more than double the average number of calls during last week's crippling snowstorms combined to cause Mr. Mitchell's long wait, city officials said.
Ambulances were dispatched three times on Saturday, Feb. 6, to the couple's home in the 5100 block of narrow Chaplain Way, but couldn't get there because of the snow. Paramedics twice asked whether Mr. Mitchell could walk to an intersection, even after he told them that he could not because he was in too much pain.
Emergency vehicles were within blocks of his home three times -- once so close Ms. Edge could see the ambulance lights from her porch -- but did not make contact with him. They finally reached the home on Sunday morning, Feb. 7, but Mr. Mitchell was already dead.
"We should have gotten there," Public Safety Director Michael Huss said. "It's that simple."
Complicating matters, communication problems meant that each call was seen as an individual request for help. Information gained on previous calls was not passed down during the next request, said Ron Roth, medical director for the city's public safety department and Allegheny County's emergency operations center.
"As a result, we made the same request over and over," he said.
Dispatchers sent the first ambulance to Mr. Mitchell's home just after 2 a.m. on Feb. 6, after he called complaining of abdominal pain, according to dispatch records. The call was graded E-2, or less pressing, as his symptoms were deemed not life-threatening. He called 911 again two hours later, asking what the hold-up was.
The call-taker told him medics were on their way, but the ambulance got stuck in the snow near the Elizabeth Street Bridge. The call was canceled after paramedics learned that Mr. Mitchell was in too much pain to walk out to them. Mr. Mitchell said he would try again later.
A second request for help was made about an hour after the first was canceled, though medics were not aware that an ambulance had gotten stuck while en route the house earlier. They, too, became stuck, according to Dr. Roth's report.
"If he wants a ride to the hospital, he is just going to have to come down to the truck," a medic told the dispatcher. Mr. Mitchell said he would try to walk to the truck, but later told them he couldn't make it across the bridge. The second call was canceled.
The third call for an ambulance came nearly five hours later, at 11:17 a.m. Saturday. Mr. Mitchell reported similar abdominal pain, and officials identified "no priority symptoms," and the call was held because of limited availability, Dr. Roth wrote in his report.
"At this point in time, higher priority calls are being held, there are over 30 calls in the pending queue," he wrote.
At about 8:15 p.m. Saturday, nine hours later, the call was upgraded to E-1, or higher priority, because Ms. Edge, who had begun making the calls on Mr. Mitchell's behalf, told call-takers he was short of breath and that they'd been waiting all day.
Less than an hour later, Ms. Edge called again to tell dispatchers that her boyfriend took sleeping and pain pills and she "could not get him up."
A doctor who called Ms. Edge back was "convinced he took his prescribed medications and went to sleep," Dr. Roth said, and the call was canceled.
In the final call, about 8 a.m. Sunday, she screamed for help. The call was graded E-0 -- a top priority. But when paramedics arrived, Mr. Mitchell had already died.
The cause of death is pending toxicology test results, the medical examiner's office said. Dr. Roth wrote that Mr. Mitchell had a history of pancreatitis, though his reported symptoms were not exclusive to that disease.
"It's unacceptable what happened," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said. "It needs to change. We're talking about somebody who lost their life, and it's no small matter."
The city planned today to start dispatching firefighters as first responders on medical calls of the two highest grades of severity, and on calls of the third highest level that remained unanswered for more than 30 minutes. Firefighters are currently only called as first responders to the most severe incidents.
Sadie Gurman: sgurman@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1878.
http://boards.medscape.com/forums?128@659.RWIFaip3mJf@.29fa9e1d!comment=1
RIO DE JANEIRO – When wind and rough seas drove the Canadian sailing ship carrying dozens of teenage students to lean precariously to one side, the captain figured it was just another day of sailing in rough weather.
When the boat immediately keeled again, he knew it was going down.
"The ship had gone from sailing upright to being on her side in the water in about 15 or 20 seconds," William Curry said. "I knew, of course, that the blow to the ship was fatal and that she was not going to right."
Just like that, a five-month academic dream cruise for 64 young students and crew ended in a mad scramble for life rafts as the SV Concordia was quickly sucked beneath the waves. Back on land Saturday, they recounted how fears of starvation and a lonely death far from land filled their heads during two nightmarish days adrift at sea.
Curry called it a miracle that everyone on board made it into rafts and survived after the three-masted Concordia apparently experienced a weather phenomenon known as a "microburst" — a sudden, violent downdraft of wind — that instantly crippled the vessel Wednesday.
The gust that knocked the ship on its side came so suddenly there was no time to radio for help before all communications equipment was submerged and ruined. So hope rested on a distress beacon that launched automatically when the vessel capsized.
"My biggest fear was that nobody knew we had sunk," said 17-year-old Keaton Farwell of Toronto. "We thought our signal had failed and nobody knew and it could be weeks before we were saved. The worst life-and-death thoughts were going through our heads, and everybody was panicking."
After 30 hours in life rafts 300 miles (480 kilometers) off Brazil, hope arrived as "a light in the sky" — a Brazilian air force jet flying high overhead sent to search the area after the beacon was finally detected.
"When we saw the plane, we were crying because of happiness. We knew somebody was coming for us, we knew we weren't going to die in a life raft," Farwell said.
Brazil's navy said the distress signal was first picked up about 5 p.m. Thursday, and an air force plane later the spotted rafts. Passing merchant ships plucked the castaways from the water, and by Saturday afternoon they were all back on land in Rio de Janeiro.
The first to dock looked disheveled and teary-eyed, wearing navy caps and clothing borrowed from their rescuers. They smiled brightly at times, but also broke down and cried as they spoke to reporters on the navy frigate that brought them to port.
Curry said the Concordia's crew had begun preparing 24 hours in advance after getting a forecast of rough weather and high seas, but nothing unusual.
"Those conditions are not at all extreme. It's kind of just another day at sea," Curry said. "It was an extraordinary event — just bad luck to be in that tiny patch of ocean at that time."
While his young charges receive extensive sailing training as part of the study program, luck also had a hand in keeping everyone alive.
The storm hit in the early afternoon at a time when most of the students were studying in protected structures on deck — which made it easier for them to scramble to life rafts.
Two rafts got tangled in the rigging — but the ship's cook had rushed so quickly from her chores that she was still clutching a kitchen knife, which was used to slice through the ropes and free the rafts.
Curry also said the school that operates the ship outfitted it with twice as many life rafts as actually needed for 64 people, so there was plenty of room for everyone even though all the rafts on one side were under water.
The 188-foot (57.5-meter) Concordia was carrying 48 students plus the crew, according to Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program for students in the final two years of high school and the first year of college.
School officials said 42 of those aboard were from Canada. Knight said others hail from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies.
Nigel McCarthy, president and CEO of the school, said a London-based maritime agency would conduct an investigation to determine why it took so long for the emergency beacon to be heard.
"I'm concerned, I'm concerned," he told The Associated Press. "Obviously we don't know the reality of what's happened at every stage of this process, and we're just thankful to the Brazilian navy for having gone and got them."
Katherine Irwin, a 16-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, had mixed thoughts about how the shipwreck would affect her sailing future.
"This was only my 15th day at sea. It was definitely a shocker," she said, eyes welling with tears. "At first I was, like, I'm never going back into the ocean. But after thinking about the friendships I made in the raft, I definitely would do it again."
Touching solid land for the first time, Irwin jumped about with her friends and did a little dance on a naval pier, smiling and giggling.
She headed to a waiting bus, and as it pulled out Irwin and the others waved to the Brazilian sailors and shouted out their thanks.
When the boat immediately keeled again, he knew it was going down.
"The ship had gone from sailing upright to being on her side in the water in about 15 or 20 seconds," William Curry said. "I knew, of course, that the blow to the ship was fatal and that she was not going to right."
Just like that, a five-month academic dream cruise for 64 young students and crew ended in a mad scramble for life rafts as the SV Concordia was quickly sucked beneath the waves. Back on land Saturday, they recounted how fears of starvation and a lonely death far from land filled their heads during two nightmarish days adrift at sea.
Curry called it a miracle that everyone on board made it into rafts and survived after the three-masted Concordia apparently experienced a weather phenomenon known as a "microburst" — a sudden, violent downdraft of wind — that instantly crippled the vessel Wednesday.
The gust that knocked the ship on its side came so suddenly there was no time to radio for help before all communications equipment was submerged and ruined. So hope rested on a distress beacon that launched automatically when the vessel capsized.
"My biggest fear was that nobody knew we had sunk," said 17-year-old Keaton Farwell of Toronto. "We thought our signal had failed and nobody knew and it could be weeks before we were saved. The worst life-and-death thoughts were going through our heads, and everybody was panicking."
After 30 hours in life rafts 300 miles (480 kilometers) off Brazil, hope arrived as "a light in the sky" — a Brazilian air force jet flying high overhead sent to search the area after the beacon was finally detected.
"When we saw the plane, we were crying because of happiness. We knew somebody was coming for us, we knew we weren't going to die in a life raft," Farwell said.
Brazil's navy said the distress signal was first picked up about 5 p.m. Thursday, and an air force plane later the spotted rafts. Passing merchant ships plucked the castaways from the water, and by Saturday afternoon they were all back on land in Rio de Janeiro.
The first to dock looked disheveled and teary-eyed, wearing navy caps and clothing borrowed from their rescuers. They smiled brightly at times, but also broke down and cried as they spoke to reporters on the navy frigate that brought them to port.
Curry said the Concordia's crew had begun preparing 24 hours in advance after getting a forecast of rough weather and high seas, but nothing unusual.
"Those conditions are not at all extreme. It's kind of just another day at sea," Curry said. "It was an extraordinary event — just bad luck to be in that tiny patch of ocean at that time."
While his young charges receive extensive sailing training as part of the study program, luck also had a hand in keeping everyone alive.
The storm hit in the early afternoon at a time when most of the students were studying in protected structures on deck — which made it easier for them to scramble to life rafts.
Two rafts got tangled in the rigging — but the ship's cook had rushed so quickly from her chores that she was still clutching a kitchen knife, which was used to slice through the ropes and free the rafts.
Curry also said the school that operates the ship outfitted it with twice as many life rafts as actually needed for 64 people, so there was plenty of room for everyone even though all the rafts on one side were under water.
The 188-foot (57.5-meter) Concordia was carrying 48 students plus the crew, according to Kate Knight, head of West Island College International of Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, which operates the Class Afloat program for students in the final two years of high school and the first year of college.
School officials said 42 of those aboard were from Canada. Knight said others hail from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Europe and the West Indies.
Nigel McCarthy, president and CEO of the school, said a London-based maritime agency would conduct an investigation to determine why it took so long for the emergency beacon to be heard.
"I'm concerned, I'm concerned," he told The Associated Press. "Obviously we don't know the reality of what's happened at every stage of this process, and we're just thankful to the Brazilian navy for having gone and got them."
Katherine Irwin, a 16-year-old from Calgary, Alberta, had mixed thoughts about how the shipwreck would affect her sailing future.
"This was only my 15th day at sea. It was definitely a shocker," she said, eyes welling with tears. "At first I was, like, I'm never going back into the ocean. But after thinking about the friendships I made in the raft, I definitely would do it again."
Touching solid land for the first time, Irwin jumped about with her friends and did a little dance on a naval pier, smiling and giggling.
She headed to a waiting bus, and as it pulled out Irwin and the others waved to the Brazilian sailors and shouted out their thanks.
By BRADLEY BROOKS, Rob Gillies in Toronto contributed to this report.
Friday, February 19, 2010
THESE KOSHER PRICKS THINK THEY CAN GET AWAY WITH ANYTHING IN THE NAME OF THEIR RELIGION! THEY ARE NOTHING MORE THAN ORDINARY CRIMINALS USING THEIR RELIGION TO GET OVER ON PEOPLE!NY rabbi accused of extorting Connecticut hedge fund
Rabbi Milton Balkany, dean of Bais Yaakov day school, allegedly threatened, lied to workers at hedge fund to persuade them to send checks totaling $3.25 million. Rabbi is charged with wire fraud, extortion, false statements, blackmail.
A prominent Brooklyn rabbi was arrested Thursday in a scheme to extort a Connecticut-based hedge fund into paying millions of dollars to two schools, federal prosecutors said.
Rabbi Milton Balkany, dean of Bais Yaakov day school, allegedly threatened, lied to workers at hedge fund to persuade them to send checks totaling $3.25 million. Rabbi is charged with wire fraud, extortion, false statements, blackmail.
A prominent Brooklyn rabbi was arrested Thursday in a scheme to extort a Connecticut-based hedge fund into paying millions of dollars to two schools, federal prosecutors said.
Rabbi Milton Balkany, the dean of Bais Yaakov day school and a prolific campaign fundraiser, was charged with wire fraud, extortion, false statements and blackmail.
Prosecutors did not know the name of his attorney. His home phone number was unlisted.
Balkany, 63, was accused in 2003 of improperly using a $700,000 federal grant intended for disabled children but avoided prosecution by admitting he disobeyed terms of the grant. He agreed to repay the grant's administrator.
On Thursday, prosecutors alleged in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal magistrate court that Balkany threatened and lied to workers at the unnamed hedge fund to persuade them to send him checks totaling $3.25 million.
On Thursday, prosecutors alleged in a complaint filed in Manhattan federal magistrate court that Balkany threatened and lied to workers at the unnamed hedge fund to persuade them to send him checks totaling $3.25 million.
Balkany contacted representatives of the hedge fund between December 2009 and February saying he was the spiritual adviser of an inmate incarcerated in upstate New York who had knowledge of purported insider trading involving six securities traded by the hedge fund, prosecutors said.
Balkany told them government officials had visited the inmate but that Balkany would not allow the inmate to speak to them about the purported illegal trading so long as the hedge fund agreed to give $4 million to two schools, Bais Yaakov and another Jewish yeshiva, both in Brooklyn, according to the complaint.
Investigators determined that the inmate was not in contact with government officials about any purported illegal trading, the complaint said. Instead, after a delay in receiving the money he had demanded from the hedge fund, Balkany contacted federal prosecutors in January to tell them that he had some "very vital information" they would be interested in hearing from the inmate, the complaint said.
Prosecutors said he made false statements and concealed information from the government in contacting the authorities during those conversations.
According to court documents, Balkany had received two checks by Thursday from the hedge fund totaling $3.25 million, paid as part of a sting.
Balkany was released on his own recognizance after posting $250,000 bond and about $1 million property in equity. He surrendered his passport and was ordered not to leave the state.
Also;
NY cantor accused of defrauding charities
Daily News reports Benny Rogosnitzky of the prestigious Park East Synagogue accused of swindling National Council of Young Israel, education group Gateways out of more than $300,000
Daily News reports Benny Rogosnitzky of the prestigious Park East Synagogue accused of swindling National Council of Young Israel, education group Gateways out of more than $300,000
Benny Rogosnitzky, a cantor at a prestigious Manhattan temple, is accused of scamming almost $500,000 from a charity, a longtime supporter and his soon-to-be ex-mother-in-law, the Daily News reported on Sunday.
According to the report, a federal suit claims Rogosnitzky, known at Park East Synagogue for his "smooth charm and rich voice," tricked a marketing director for the National Council of Young Israel and an education group, Gateways, out of more than $300,000.
Klara Ringel, whose daughter is embroiled in a bitter divorce with Rogosnitzky, said he deceived her into giving $132,000 to a corrupt charity, the Daily News reported.
According to the Daily News, Rogosnitzky, 36, claimed in court records that he's the victim. He said his estranged wife, 37-year-old Chana Ringel, and her family trashed his reputation, forcing him to leave the Jewish Center on the upper West Side, where he'd worked for 13 years.
The cantor declined to comment on the Daily News' report, but the cantor's spokesman, Andrew Moesel, said that Ringel's accusations are tied to the divorce. The couple has two children.
"These accusations are part of a smear campaign designed to apply pressure in a matrimonial dispute," Moesel was quoted by the Daily News as saying. "Mr. Rogosnitzky fully intends to repay any business debts as soon as the divorce matter is resolved."
However, Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, founder and president of Gateways, told the Daily News that Rogosnitzky is "a dangerous person."
In a deposition, Suchard claimed that in 2008 Rogosnitzky asked to use a Gateways credit card to reserve space for a retreat sponsored by his own organization, Cantors World. When the American Express bills rolled in, there were charges for El Al tickets to Israel, kosher food and liquor to the tune of $150,547, he said in a deposition.
According to the Daily News, Rogosnitzky initially said he didn't know anything about the charges, but then he called them a mistake.
Court papers, the report said, allege that the cantor even told American Express he was a Gateways employee entitled to use the card. Only $45,000 has been repaid - by one of Rogosnitzky's congregants, the Daily News said.
According to a deposition, Tziporah Spear, marketing director for the National Council of Young Israel, had a similar run-in with the cantor. Court records show that Rogosnitzky asked her for a credit card in 2007 to hold a reservation for a Cantors World event, then ran up $150,000 in charges, including 17 plane tickets.
According to the report, a federal suit claims Rogosnitzky, known at Park East Synagogue for his "smooth charm and rich voice," tricked a marketing director for the National Council of Young Israel and an education group, Gateways, out of more than $300,000.
Klara Ringel, whose daughter is embroiled in a bitter divorce with Rogosnitzky, said he deceived her into giving $132,000 to a corrupt charity, the Daily News reported.
According to the Daily News, Rogosnitzky, 36, claimed in court records that he's the victim. He said his estranged wife, 37-year-old Chana Ringel, and her family trashed his reputation, forcing him to leave the Jewish Center on the upper West Side, where he'd worked for 13 years.
The cantor declined to comment on the Daily News' report, but the cantor's spokesman, Andrew Moesel, said that Ringel's accusations are tied to the divorce. The couple has two children.
"These accusations are part of a smear campaign designed to apply pressure in a matrimonial dispute," Moesel was quoted by the Daily News as saying. "Mr. Rogosnitzky fully intends to repay any business debts as soon as the divorce matter is resolved."
However, Rabbi Mordechai Suchard, founder and president of Gateways, told the Daily News that Rogosnitzky is "a dangerous person."
In a deposition, Suchard claimed that in 2008 Rogosnitzky asked to use a Gateways credit card to reserve space for a retreat sponsored by his own organization, Cantors World. When the American Express bills rolled in, there were charges for El Al tickets to Israel, kosher food and liquor to the tune of $150,547, he said in a deposition.
According to the Daily News, Rogosnitzky initially said he didn't know anything about the charges, but then he called them a mistake.
Court papers, the report said, allege that the cantor even told American Express he was a Gateways employee entitled to use the card. Only $45,000 has been repaid - by one of Rogosnitzky's congregants, the Daily News said.
According to a deposition, Tziporah Spear, marketing director for the National Council of Young Israel, had a similar run-in with the cantor. Court records show that Rogosnitzky asked her for a credit card in 2007 to hold a reservation for a Cantors World event, then ran up $150,000 in charges, including 17 plane tickets.
A car hit an elderly Jewish man. The paramedic says, "Are you comfortable?" The man says, "I make a good living." The Doctor gave a man six months to live. The man couldn't pay his bill, so the doctor gave him another six months. The Doctor called Mrs. Cohen saying, "Mrs. Cohen, your cheque came back." Mrs. Cohen answered, "So did my arthritis!" A doctor held a stethoscope up to a man's chest. The man asks, "Doc, how do I stand?" The doctor says, "That's what puzzles me!" A drunk was in front of a judge. The judge says, "You've been brought here for drinking." The drunk says "Okay, let's get started." There is a big controversy on the Jewish view of when life begins. In Jewish tradition, the fetus is not considered viable until it graduates from medical school. Q: Why don't Jewish mothers drink? A: Alcohol interferes with their suffering. Q: Why do Jewish mothers make great parole officers? A: They never let anyone finish a sentence!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Balkany
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Balkany
He is married to Sarah Rubashkin, an occasional lecturer on Chabad Hasidim, with whom he has 13 children. His father in law is Rabbi Aaron Rubashkin the founder of Agriprocessors.
Hon. James David Manning says Barack Hussein Obama was a CIA operative who used Columbia University as a cover up to go to Pakistan in 1981 when the United States and the Taliban worked together against Russia.
"I am James David Manning, Senior Pastor of the Atlah World Missionary Church in Harlem, New York. I am also the originator of the Columbia Obama trial scheduled for the 14th of May, year 2010. Due to the growing threatening circumstances surrounding this trial, I must now release the full transcript we wish to present, document and prove at the Columbia Obama trial later this year.
Obama was recruited in 1980 by the CIA while a student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. The CIA needed Muslims who were fluent in Farsi and other Islamic customs and understandings. Obama was perfect as an undercover agent. The CIA then later enlisted Columbia University to extend its foreign student program to Barack Hussein Obama that he might enroll in the universities around Karachi and in Pakistan, and also the Patrice Lamumba school in Moscow. With a perfect cover as a US student identity, Obama became the lead agent in the arms and money supply to the struggling Taliban army against the Soviet war machine. Obama's cover was flawless, and his skills as an agent incredible. He was more than integral to the Taliban victory later on that decade.
Now I will be presenting documentation to all that I say here in this announcement. But it is public knowledge that Obama traveled to Pakistan in 1981. We don't know how often he traveled between Pakistan and Russia, or his return back to America and back to Pakistan, off and on, during his undercover operation in Afghanistan training and being a money supplier and interpreter for the CIA to the Taliban during those war years. The state Department records have been scrubbed and the State Department employee was killed to cover the passport office break-in of April 2008, Lieutenant Quarles Harris, a young African American who was found shot dead in front of the Judah Praise Baptist church in northeast Washington, DC. Obama learned his Islamic language skills while he spent six years in Indonesia with his stepfather Lolo Soetoro and his mother. When he returned from his CIA assignment in the mid 1980s, he pressured the State Department to allow him to enter Harvard Law School He excelled at Harvard, became the Editor of the Law Review. Where upon his graduation he could have become a Supreme Court clerk or a multi-million dollar salary would have been offered to him at America's best law firms, except for one thing...he did not have a legitimate background as a US Citizen or as a student from Occidental or Columbia. A diligent investigation by a personnel agency of a major law firm would have revealed he was not a US citizen. And how could a "C" student go from Occidental College to America's fifth most difficult school to enter, into Columbia University, and then from there three years later enter into the world's most difficult lawschool, Harvard?
So what does a former CIA operative do when they cannot pass a personnel test? Obama becomes a "Community Organizer" on the South side of Chicago, where no background check is needed. His marriage to Michelle Robinson, a lawyer and connected Chicago politician, although a convenient marriage, now gives him citizenship and the beginning of a solid background. He takes a job at the same law firm where Michelle becomes his trainer and supervisor, a law firm that is heavily influenced by small time criminal, Tony Rezko. Michelle Robinson controls the personnel records, and his hiring takes place without a hitch. When questions were raised during the 2008 campaign for presidency about his Columbia years, he spun those questions and the media by declaring himself to be an Ascetic, a monk, and a hermit, going days on end without speaking or interacting with anyone, and he did not live one campus with the regular Columbia University students. Today, Obama is a man who loves the limelight and can hardly tear himself away from any camera he passes by, wants us to believe that he was once a monk or hermit with no interaction with anyone.
Michael Wolf, former NTA Chairman and graduate of Columbia says he remembers Obama s very smart and a great debater while he was at Columbia, and he was very active in student activities. Now it appears that Michael Wolf remembers things about Obama that Obama does not remember about himself. FOX news during the 2008 campaign, when questions were raised about Barack OBama's Columbia years, interviewed more than 400 people on campus during the years of 1980 to 1984--students, nurses, librarians, custodians, shopkeepers, people in the environment, in their investigation, not one of the 400 people remembers Barack Hussein Obama during his alleged Columbia years.
The Reagan Bush administrations and the Bush 43 administration, all know this about Barack Obama as a CIA operative, and his help to win the war there for the Taliban in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion. They just did not expect Barack Obama to win the Iowa Caucus. When he won that, there was no way they could assassinate him, remove him from the scene. They had to allow him to march over the Clintons and over John McCain that he might be the president. Whatever information he now holds or interaction he holds with the Soviet Union and both the American people as a threat.
We as a government and and as a people are being held hostage by this former CIA operative Barack Hussein Obama who has heavy Muslim beliefs Marxist politics and has an intense hatred for this nation called America. At the trial 14th of May I will document, all these statements that are not public knowledge. But because of growing threatening circumstances I must present my case to the public now. I am James David Manning, Senior Pastor of the Atlah World Missionary Church in Harlem, New York and host of Manning report."
"I am James David Manning, Senior Pastor of the Atlah World Missionary Church in Harlem, New York. I am also the originator of the Columbia Obama trial scheduled for the 14th of May, year 2010. Due to the growing threatening circumstances surrounding this trial, I must now release the full transcript we wish to present, document and prove at the Columbia Obama trial later this year.
Obama was recruited in 1980 by the CIA while a student at Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. The CIA needed Muslims who were fluent in Farsi and other Islamic customs and understandings. Obama was perfect as an undercover agent. The CIA then later enlisted Columbia University to extend its foreign student program to Barack Hussein Obama that he might enroll in the universities around Karachi and in Pakistan, and also the Patrice Lamumba school in Moscow. With a perfect cover as a US student identity, Obama became the lead agent in the arms and money supply to the struggling Taliban army against the Soviet war machine. Obama's cover was flawless, and his skills as an agent incredible. He was more than integral to the Taliban victory later on that decade.
Now I will be presenting documentation to all that I say here in this announcement. But it is public knowledge that Obama traveled to Pakistan in 1981. We don't know how often he traveled between Pakistan and Russia, or his return back to America and back to Pakistan, off and on, during his undercover operation in Afghanistan training and being a money supplier and interpreter for the CIA to the Taliban during those war years. The state Department records have been scrubbed and the State Department employee was killed to cover the passport office break-in of April 2008, Lieutenant Quarles Harris, a young African American who was found shot dead in front of the Judah Praise Baptist church in northeast Washington, DC. Obama learned his Islamic language skills while he spent six years in Indonesia with his stepfather Lolo Soetoro and his mother. When he returned from his CIA assignment in the mid 1980s, he pressured the State Department to allow him to enter Harvard Law School He excelled at Harvard, became the Editor of the Law Review. Where upon his graduation he could have become a Supreme Court clerk or a multi-million dollar salary would have been offered to him at America's best law firms, except for one thing...he did not have a legitimate background as a US Citizen or as a student from Occidental or Columbia. A diligent investigation by a personnel agency of a major law firm would have revealed he was not a US citizen. And how could a "C" student go from Occidental College to America's fifth most difficult school to enter, into Columbia University, and then from there three years later enter into the world's most difficult lawschool, Harvard?
So what does a former CIA operative do when they cannot pass a personnel test? Obama becomes a "Community Organizer" on the South side of Chicago, where no background check is needed. His marriage to Michelle Robinson, a lawyer and connected Chicago politician, although a convenient marriage, now gives him citizenship and the beginning of a solid background. He takes a job at the same law firm where Michelle becomes his trainer and supervisor, a law firm that is heavily influenced by small time criminal, Tony Rezko. Michelle Robinson controls the personnel records, and his hiring takes place without a hitch. When questions were raised during the 2008 campaign for presidency about his Columbia years, he spun those questions and the media by declaring himself to be an Ascetic, a monk, and a hermit, going days on end without speaking or interacting with anyone, and he did not live one campus with the regular Columbia University students. Today, Obama is a man who loves the limelight and can hardly tear himself away from any camera he passes by, wants us to believe that he was once a monk or hermit with no interaction with anyone.
Michael Wolf, former NTA Chairman and graduate of Columbia says he remembers Obama s very smart and a great debater while he was at Columbia, and he was very active in student activities. Now it appears that Michael Wolf remembers things about Obama that Obama does not remember about himself. FOX news during the 2008 campaign, when questions were raised about Barack OBama's Columbia years, interviewed more than 400 people on campus during the years of 1980 to 1984--students, nurses, librarians, custodians, shopkeepers, people in the environment, in their investigation, not one of the 400 people remembers Barack Hussein Obama during his alleged Columbia years.
The Reagan Bush administrations and the Bush 43 administration, all know this about Barack Obama as a CIA operative, and his help to win the war there for the Taliban in Afghanistan during the Russian invasion. They just did not expect Barack Obama to win the Iowa Caucus. When he won that, there was no way they could assassinate him, remove him from the scene. They had to allow him to march over the Clintons and over John McCain that he might be the president. Whatever information he now holds or interaction he holds with the Soviet Union and both the American people as a threat.
We as a government and and as a people are being held hostage by this former CIA operative Barack Hussein Obama who has heavy Muslim beliefs Marxist politics and has an intense hatred for this nation called America. At the trial 14th of May I will document, all these statements that are not public knowledge. But because of growing threatening circumstances I must present my case to the public now. I am James David Manning, Senior Pastor of the Atlah World Missionary Church in Harlem, New York and host of Manning report."
Thursday, February 18, 2010
ROGUE AMERICAN EDITORIALIST AND FORMER FBI ASSET http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_%28intelligence%29 REIGNED IN BY THE FEDS! PERSECUTORS SEEK TO TRY HIM UNTIL CONVICTION GAINED, NOT UNLIKE GOTTI JR.! SO MUCH FOR THE FIRST AMMENDMENT AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH!
Prosecutors ask to exclude ties to FBI in retrial of N.J. blogger accused of threatening judges
Federal prosecutors are asking a judge to ban right-wing blogger Hal Turner from revealing to a jury he was an FBI informant in a retrial for allegedly threatening three federal judges in Chicago, a report in NorthJersey.com said.
Prosecutors said allowing argument about his status as an informant would just distract the jury, but his defense said he was trained to make statements similar to the ones charged as a threat in the case, according to the report. A judge declared a mistrial last December in the case against the New Jersey blogger. Prosecutors had argued that Turner knew his Internet tirade, which insisted the judges "deserved to be killed," could provoke violence by members of his radical audience. The defense likened Turner to a "shock jock" and argued he was expressing an opinion protected by the First Amendment.
Prosecutors said allowing argument about his status as an informant would just distract the jury, but his defense said he was trained to make statements similar to the ones charged as a threat in the case, according to the report. A judge declared a mistrial last December in the case against the New Jersey blogger. Prosecutors had argued that Turner knew his Internet tirade, which insisted the judges "deserved to be killed," could provoke violence by members of his radical audience. The defense likened Turner to a "shock jock" and argued he was expressing an opinion protected by the First Amendment.
• Mistrial declared for N.J. blogger accused of threatening judges
• Jury hears closing arguments in case of N.J. blogger accused of threatening judges
• Lawyer for North Bergen blogger says client was trained by FBI to incite others
• N.J. website publisher is arrested in threatening to assault three federal judges
• Jury hears closing arguments in case of N.J. blogger accused of threatening judges
• Lawyer for North Bergen blogger says client was trained by FBI to incite others
• N.J. website publisher is arrested in threatening to assault three federal judges
Prosecutors want to bar North Bergen shock jock Hal Turner's role as informant in new trial
Federal prosecutors are seeking to bar ultra-right wing shock jock Hal Turner from revealing his longtime role as a FBI informant to a jury when he is retried next month for allegedly threatening three appeals court judges from Chicago.
Prosecutors want U.S. District Judge Donald Walter to preclude Turner’s lawyers from referring to his background as a confidential source for the FBI unless they plan to present evidence, which they contend “can only come from the testimony of the defendant himself.”
Otherwise, they say in motion papers, “allowing argument or questioning of the government’s witnesses about [Turner’s] status as an informant is nothing but an irrelevant sideshow designed to distract and confuse the jury.”
The North Bergen resident’s first trial ended in a mistrial Dec. 7 after the jury reported it was hopelessly deadlocked.
Walter set March 1 as a new trial date for Turner, who faces a single count of unlawfully threatening three Chicago-based federal appeals judges after writing on his blog last June that they “deserved to be killed” for upholding a gun control ordinance.
Before the first trial, the government filed a similar motion arguing there was no evidence in Turner’s FBI file to support his “oft-repeated allegation that he had been ‘schooled’ by the FBI … to make statements similar to the one charged as a threat in this case, and that there were no FBI personnel who could or would testify that defendant was ever authorized to threaten any public official, let alone to do so on June 2 and June 3, 2009, two years after he had been terminated as an informant.”
Walter reserved decision before the first trial got underway in Brooklyn and Turner’s lawyers later argued he was a highly-regarded source who was entrusted to gather information on white supremacist movements at home and abroad, and was not guilty because the FBI taught him what he could and could not say.
When the government attempted to present evidence to rebut the defense’s claims, the judge ruled such evidence was inadmissible because Turner presented no evidence that he was trained to threaten public figures, prosecutors said in court papers.
The Record reported in November that Turner, 47, was recruited by FBI counter-terrorism agents in 2003 and paid thousands of dollars to travel to rallies, conferences and other meetings of the Aryan Nation, the National Alliance, and other ultra-right-wing groups. In 2005, Turner went to Brazil and reported on a possible $1 million donation by white supremacists there to their American counterparts.
The FBI ended its covert relationship with Turner in mid 2007 citing an inability to control what he said on the air or wrote on his blog, FBI records show. But, records show, Turner continued to supply tips and other information to the FBI and other agencies until only weeks before his arrest last June.
E-mail: sampson@northjersey.com
Otherwise, they say in motion papers, “allowing argument or questioning of the government’s witnesses about [Turner’s] status as an informant is nothing but an irrelevant sideshow designed to distract and confuse the jury.”
The North Bergen resident’s first trial ended in a mistrial Dec. 7 after the jury reported it was hopelessly deadlocked.
Walter set March 1 as a new trial date for Turner, who faces a single count of unlawfully threatening three Chicago-based federal appeals judges after writing on his blog last June that they “deserved to be killed” for upholding a gun control ordinance.
Before the first trial, the government filed a similar motion arguing there was no evidence in Turner’s FBI file to support his “oft-repeated allegation that he had been ‘schooled’ by the FBI … to make statements similar to the one charged as a threat in this case, and that there were no FBI personnel who could or would testify that defendant was ever authorized to threaten any public official, let alone to do so on June 2 and June 3, 2009, two years after he had been terminated as an informant.”
Walter reserved decision before the first trial got underway in Brooklyn and Turner’s lawyers later argued he was a highly-regarded source who was entrusted to gather information on white supremacist movements at home and abroad, and was not guilty because the FBI taught him what he could and could not say.
When the government attempted to present evidence to rebut the defense’s claims, the judge ruled such evidence was inadmissible because Turner presented no evidence that he was trained to threaten public figures, prosecutors said in court papers.
The Record reported in November that Turner, 47, was recruited by FBI counter-terrorism agents in 2003 and paid thousands of dollars to travel to rallies, conferences and other meetings of the Aryan Nation, the National Alliance, and other ultra-right-wing groups. In 2005, Turner went to Brazil and reported on a possible $1 million donation by white supremacists there to their American counterparts.
The FBI ended its covert relationship with Turner in mid 2007 citing an inability to control what he said on the air or wrote on his blog, FBI records show. But, records show, Turner continued to supply tips and other information to the FBI and other agencies until only weeks before his arrest last June.
E-mail: sampson@northjersey.com
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